ACLU Challenges Arkansas Foster/Adoption Statute

[MrMidwest]

Posted: 1/2/09 at 2:48pm

The Arkansas Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU LGBT Rights Project have filed suit in state court challenging the federal and state constitutionality of Act 1, a measure enacted by referendum on November 4 and slated to go into effect January 1, 2009, which prospectively bans foster or adoptive placements with unmarried adult cohabitants, regardless of gender.

The complaint filed on December 30 in Cole v. State of Arkansas was brought on behalf of a varied group of unmarried couples and parents. The heart of the complaint is really the section describing the plaintiffs and their interest in the case. This makes clear that Act 1 impermissibly interferes with family autonomy in drastic ways. For example, it disqualifies a woman from seeking to adopt her battered granddaughter, even though the state has removed the child from the custody of its parents, because grandma is cohabiting with another woman. It prohibits parents from effectively designating relatives to take over as adoptive parents in case anything happens to the parents if those relatives are living in unmarried cohabitation relationships.
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